The Burning Dorm
by The Perfect Paradox
Summary: The title says it all. Set after the events of the first film. Kelly/Annabelle.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **The Burning Dorm

**Author: **The Perfect Paradox

**Genre: **Tragedy/Romance

**Parings: **Annabelle/Kelly (only very slightly in this chapter)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters; they all belong to someone far richer than me.

**Summary: **The title says it all.

* * *

BOOM!

Annabelle Fritton awoke to the sound of screaming and furniture being upturned. Her own mattress was turned over from the energy of the blast. Groggily she rubbed her eyes and peered out from under their red rims. The scene she saw before her bed was horrifying even for the standards set by St Trinian's. There was panic, debris, fire and a multitude of girls swarming the dorms exit.

Annabelle took it all in with wide eyes. Polly running with half the computer equipment in her arms; another geek behind her hauling along a heavy monitor. Chelsea carrying the contents of her wardrobe over one shoulder, on the other dangled a set of lethal stilettos. The chavs were grabbing as much make up as was humanly possibly to fit in their bags and the Goths had already unraveled their dark cloths, dragging them from the small confinements of the dorm. Fear mirrored all of their faces and screams were ripped involuntarily from their mouths.

However terrifying this sight was in Annabelle's eyes, the most horrifying aspect was what lay in the destroyed area once occupied by the first years. The flames were everywhere; they clung to the bed sheets and climbed the walls like dozens of fiery serpents.

'Come on Annabelle move!' shouted Andrea, trying to pull Annabelle from her bed.

The Goths pale make up was dripping down her face due to the heat of the fire, giving her the look of a deranged clown. But Annabelle wouldn't budge, her eyes stood transfixed, the fiery glow reflected in their dark depths. Taylor came running over, supporting a stack of magazines.

'Oi Mortisha, get a move on before the fire starts to spreadin' too much…' she caught sight of Annabelle, 'Wha's wrong with her?'

'I dunno, she won't move.'

Taylor crouched down with difficulty, 'Annabelle!' she snapped her fingers in the girls face, 'Oi Annabelle.'

'I'm tellin' ya she won't move. I'm gunna find Kelly.'

Their conversation was lost on Annabelle's ears, she was hardly aware of their retreating backs. Her mind was kilometers away, at a small cottage now lying in ruins…

_At the time Annabelle was five and had awoken in much the same fashion, except there was no explosion, just flames licking her feet beneath the blankets. She was living in a small cottage out in the hills just shy of London with her mother and father. As most tragic tales go, Annabelle's mother had left a candle burning on the window sill and forgotten about it completely, going straight to bed that night alone (Carnaby was out at a party for one of his art exhibitions). _

_It was only a small breeze that urged the window curtain to blow into the candles path and in only a matter of minutes the whole cottage was ablaze. Not even the ferocious storm outside could quench the burning wood. It was as if the fire had a burning hunger tonight and would not leave until satisfied. _

_Crying in her room, little Annabelle was found by her mother who picked up the distressed girl and ran for the cottage door. However before she got close enough, with a groan the support structure gave way, leaving four heavy pieces of wood obscuring the doorway. Only a tiny gap remained, Annabelle's mother realized, enough for Annabelle to fit through. _

_Setting the girl on her feet, Annabelle's mother crouched to her daughter's tiny level so as to see her frightened eyes, 'Listen to me, 'Belle sweetheart.'_

_Annabelle's crying tuned down to small sobs, as she focused on the charm bracelet strapped to mothers hand. In the harsh firelight, the silver sparkled like the fins of a fish Annabelle had seen in one of her nursery books. _

'_You have to do something very important for mother, okay? You see that gap? I want you to crawl through it…crawl through and run across the hills to Old Man Miller's house okay? Tell him what's happened. Keep running and don't stop, not even to look back. Do you understand my sweetheart?' _

'_What about you mother?' asked Annabelle in a tiny voice. _

'_I'll be right behind you, every step of the way my darling.' _

_Annabelle nodded, not understanding the tears leaking down her mother's pretty face. When she was pushed forward, Annabelle miraculously made it through the gap, just scraping her knee against the fire. Later she found it rather silly to be running in her night dress, across the hills with thunder rolling in the sky and rain pelting her sourced face. She contemplated looking back, but obeyed her mother's wishes. After all her mother said she was right behind her. _

_But Annabelle was to soon learn, when she reached Old Man Millers house, that her mother wasn't right behind her. Old Man Miller himself ran down to the cottage, while his wife made Annabelle a soothing cup of hot chocolate and called the firemen. Annabelle drank it half heartedly, not even caring if it scorched her throat…she was still waiting for her mother. _

_Later when the ruins were investigated, all they found was a silver charm bracelet and the skeleton of a woman who ceased to exist. The latter of course they did not show the girl, but the bracelet they gave to her and she cherished it._

'...what the bloody hell do you think you're doing?'

Kelly's porcelain face bobbed before her blurry vision. They were the last two girls in the dorm. Despite it being almost 3 in the morning, according to one of the Chav's melting clocks, Kelly's vibrant red lipstick was still applied. Annabelle focused on them, before peering into the head girls concerned yet alert eyes.

'I..I-'

'Now isn't the time Fritton. I need you to pull yourself together so we can get ourselves out of here before this whole place comes down around our ears.'

Kelly grabbed Annabelle's upper arm and dragged her to her feet. The wreckage was unbelievable. Mattresses, clothes and sheets were strewn across the floor along with burning debris. It was total and utter chaos. The fire had latched onto a few of the other curtains now and was making its way over to the chavs make up stands, melting the cheap plastic. With Kelly covering Annabelle's body protectively from the flames, the two of them made a beeline toward the exit, stumbling over the mess. As they passed under the doorframe, Annabelle eyed it suspiciously, but it remained steady.

'What happened in there?' she asked, as they made it quickly down the staircase.

Kelly raised a slim dark eyebrow, 'I would've though that was obvious enough.'

'Rogue C4?'

Kelly nodded. As they walked, her dark and assertive eyes sought out and examined the girl for any injuries, but soon her gaze turned away from concern and into something else. The click of Kelly's heels against the floor of the foyer was harsh and in its absence, Annabelle stopped and wheeled about.

'Kelly?'

They stood on opposite ends of the foyer, the air between them holding a silent poise that berated both of their ears. Kelly was the first to break it.

'What _were_ you doing up there Fritton?' she asked, tilting her head to the side as her gaze became more intense, 'When I pulled you out of la-la land, you looked terrified. Am I really that scary?'

Despite the seriousness sharpening Kelly's voice, Annabelle smiled and looked at her shifting feet, 'It was nothing. I-I guess it was just the shock of seeing the fire and…' she trailed off.

'It was a stupid thing to do…'

Annabelle quickly looked up to see Kelly's face as hard as stone, her eyes black pits.

'…you could've died in there, had I not come for you.'

Annabelle felt anger rising in the pit of her stomach. How dare Kelly berate her like she was five? Sure, it was stupid. But could Annabelle control what had happened to her all those years ago? Could Annabelle help it if she had grown up all her life with a fear of fire?

'Had you not come for me?' Annabelle shouted angrily, stunning both her and Kelly, 'What am I, a helpless five year old?'

Kelly quickly recovered her icy glare and almost shouted out the next words as if Annabelle were dumb and deaf, 'Yes! In a room full of fire, the first thing a _normal _person would do would be to run for the exit.'

Annabelle felt stunned, 'So now I'm not normal? Shall we add anything else to that list…'

'Annabelle' Kelly sighed taking a few steps towards her until they were now face to face, two pairs of dark eyes staring each other down, 'It was foolish. You could have easily-'

'You want to know what I was doing, do you?'

'Well, ye-'

'I was reminiscing'

This answer caught Kelly abruptly; the head girl opened her mouth to say something but no words came out.

'Thank you for your concern' Annabelle's voice was shaking.

She half regretted those words as she turned as fled out the front doors of St Trinian's. The look on Kelly's face moments ago made her stomach turn in disappointment of herself. Kelly had been nothing but kind since Annabelle's arrival (if you counted out the naked hallway incident) and now Annabelle had thrown it all in the head girl's face.

The remainder of the school were huddled together in their nightclothes out in the front driveway, watching the orange glow coming from the top floor of their beloved school. A few such as the posh totties and a few chavs and emo's were crying, letting out their despair on each others shoulders. Miss Fritton was standing at the head of them all, wearing a fluffy pink nightgown and matching slippers.

'Girls, girls are you alright?' she asked as Annabelle and Kelly descended the stairs together.

Annabelle dared not look back at Kelly as they both nodded. All of that was driven from her mind however when the next question was thrown their way.

'Is Tara with you?'

Tania came from out of the cover of Miss Fritton's nightgown, ashen face streaked with tears.

Kelly shared a glance with Miss Fritton, 'No, why?'

* * *

**A/N: Kinda crap I know, but it was just sitting in my folders so no harm posting right?**


	2. Chapter 2

Kelly glanced up at the windows of St Trinian's dorm anxiously, the orange glow behind the glass making her stomach turn. According to the accounts of her twin sister, Tara was inside there somewhere, trapped.

'We got separated and I tried to find her Kel,' Tania explained through tear drenched hiccups, 'But when I couldn't see her I thought she'd run out already.'

Kelly turned to face the knot of girls she had come to so heavily rely on during The Heist. They were ashen, they were tired and their faces were knotted with worry. Being Head Girl wasn't just a title for Kelly, it was a responsibility and she now realized that their hope was deteriorating.

If she knew something, it was that in the chaos of the night there needed to be a calm presence. To have control of the situation you had to appear confident, calm and collected even if you were writhing inside. As Kelly turned to face the other girls, (Miss Fritton included) she could see that her presence was almost as necessary as a buoyant object in the stormy depths of the sea.

Andrea was present, eyeliner dribbling down her face in an almost homicidal way. Chelsea, Peaches and Chloe were clutching each other as if their life depended on it; surprisingly the trio's clothes were both ripped and dirty, something which was rarely seen to be accompanying the figure of a Posh Tottie. Taylor looked pretty much the same, although her sneering look of superiority was gone, only to be replaced with indifference. Crouched over her salvaged computer equipment, Polly was straightening her glasses with only Cecila for company.

Then there was Annabelle.

Kelly let herself watch the girl for a moment. She stood with Miss Fritton and the Matron, staring up at the dorm windows in much the same fashion as Kelly had been only moments ago.

'There's only one thing for it then' said Kelly nonchalantly.

Chelsea, Peaches and Chloe started as one, 'Oh…my…god.'

'It's like suicide!' exclaimed Taylor.

Andrea had a dreamy look on her face, 'Hmmm, suicide.'

'But you _can't_!' said Annabelle her head snapping to Kelly, 'It's too dangerous, even for you!'

Kelly stared ahead coldly, but couldn't help feeling satisfaction as she saw from the corner of her eye, the look of worry on Annabelle's face.

'What's that supposed to mean Fritton?' she snapped, still refusing to make eye contact.

Annabelle flinched, and somewhere in the cold abyss of her mind, so did Kelly.

Miss Fritton stepped forward, 'However much I would like to agree with you Kelly my dear, I do think this is a little out your league.'

Kelly made to protest but Miss Fritton held up her hand.

'I said it was out of _your _league when you're _alone_' Miss Fritton winked, 'however if you were to formulate a plan and use all the help you can get, I think there certainly wouldn't be any protest. We are St Trinian's my girls and through thick and thin we back each other up, is that not right?'

The others nodded their heads in agreement, the sound of burning wood and silence lashing out at them like a whip.

'Okay then' Miss Fritton managed a toothy smile at them all, 'somewhere in that building is a girl who needs rescuing. I say we get right down to it. What do you think head girl?'

Everyone turned to Kelly, who gave Miss Fritton a thankful look and nodded, 'Let's do it. Polly, what's the status of the building?'

Polly climbed to her feet, 'By my calculations Kel, the fire's already spreading too fast. There's danger of some major support structures giving way and also the majority the equipment I left up there could become combustible in the heat.'

Kelly nodded, 'Sounds dangerous enough. Is there anything else that needs rescuing?'

Matron stepped forward and for once in her life she was sober, 'The alcohol.'

Kelly rolled her eyes as everyone but herself and Annabelle agreed.

'Oh and grab me some of that sherry stuff while you're at it Matron' said Miss Fritton.

'Alright!' said Kelly loudly cutting them all off, 'There's still a girl to save up there, so who's coming with _me_?'

At this suggestion most of the girls backed down and there was a long guilty silence. Going back into that nightmare was something nobody wanted to relive twice, even for the sake of their head girl. There was only one who found the guts to timidly step forward.

'I'll follow you' said Annabelle.

Kelly's heart pounded, 'Fine.'

Chelsea stepped forward quickly, 'What do you want the rest of us to do?'

Kelly had always liked Chelsea, not for the fact that she was easily convinced into anything (although it helped). But she was the one Kelly counted on for making the first move and being bold.

Kelly straightened her back and gave them a look of determination, 'Okay girls' she said.

The girls suddenly seemed spurred on by Kelly's confidence, a trick which had always seemed to work.

'This is what's happening.'

* * *

Each armed with a headset that connected them to Polly's portable computer system outside, Kelly, Annabelle, Taylor, Andrea and Matron quickly climbed the staircase to the top floor. With each step taken Annabelle could feel her heart pounding wildly in her chest, trying to break free of the confinements of her ribs.

'Okay' said Kelly once they reached the top floor landing, 'You know the plan. If there's any sign of danger, get out straight away. We'll meet you three outside.'

She directed those words at Taylor, Andrea and Matron, who were already hurrying off to the left, in the direction of the liquor cupboard.

'Good luck!' Andrea threw over the Matron's shoulder as the older woman herded the chav and the emo away.

Kelly gave Annabelle one of her most intimidating looks, 'Don't fall out on me this time Fritton.'

Annabelle nodded, her gaze withering under Kelly's one. Outside Miss Fritton had given them each a piece of cloth to cover their faces with should the smoke become too intense. With only one glance at the dorm door, both girls saw how bad things really were and immediately raised the cloth to their faces.

'Let's go' Kelly's words were now slightly muffled.

Annabelle could hardly hear them over the pounding of her own heartbeat. As they stepped inside the dorm, the smoke greeted them with an intense blast of heat. Annabelle recoiled, her eyes watering but Kelly grabbed her hand and forced her along. Suddenly, there was a buzzing in both their ears.

'Can you two see anything?' asked Polly over the headset.

Outside on the ground, Polly, Cecila and Miss Fritton crowded around the computer equipment, trying to catch the voice of their head girl. Behind them the rest of the school and staff had pulled out several long hoses the grounds keeper kept and were now trying to hose down the fire from the ground. It was Annabelle who replied.

'Yeah' she coughed, 'Smoke.'

Kelly rolled her eyes and continued walking forward, keeping a tight grip on Annabelle's hand.

'There is smoke' she said loud enough so that the headset could pick it up, 'A lot of the furniture is burning. Good golly.'

They stepped over melting lipstick containers and around mattresses with their sheets alight, the smoke billowing straight into their faces and making them choke. As Polly had predicted, some of the support structures had already collapsed, leaving a smaller time gap for the roof to cave in. Kelly and Annabelle jumped over the burning wood, being careful not to splinter themselves. As they wandered around the destroyed dormitory Annabelle clutched Kelly's hand tightly. The added pressure to her hand was not lost on Kelly.

'You alright?' she asked.

Annabelle could only nod, pressing the cloth harder into her mouth and nose.

'Can you see anything?' came Polly's voice again.

'Not yet, but we'll let you –'

'Kelly!'

Kelly stopped abruptly and turned her head slightly, tilting it toward Annabelle 'Did you hear that?'

By the wideness of Annabelle's eyes she guessed so. The both of them scanned the east end of the dorm carefully. There wasn't much except for a large pile of undisturbed wood, burning quietly in the corner. Annabelle squinted through the smoke, and could just make out something slim and pale poking out through the jumble, something with five fingers.

'Kelly!' Tara cried out again.

Kelly's relief was short lived as Tara's ear splitting scream shocked them to reality.

'The fire Kelly!' she cried, 'It's burning my leg.'

Kelly let go of Annabelle's hand and was over by Tara faster than Annabelle could blink. Dropping the cloth, the head girl used both hands to haul away the burning wood crushing the smaller girl. In turn the fire unmercifully burned her hands.

'Annabelle!' Kelly cried out, 'Help me with this will you!'

Annabelle hurried forward and together the two of them begun hoisting away a particularly large piece that was trapping Tara to the floor.

'It's too heavy!' Annabelle shouted, her face turning red with exertion.

'Keep trying!' Kelly yelled back.

Her hands were throbbing painfully and her head spun with dizziness, but with all of her might Kelly pulled and slowly, gradually, Tara become free enough to drag herself out.

'Kelly!'

'Tara. Are you alright?'

As far as Annabelle could see Tara wasn't seriously injured, although she was clutching her ankle with a glazed expression clouding her once mischievous eyes.

'My ankle!'

Kelly and Annabelle winced at the sight of Tara's ankle when she finally let go of it. The skin was red, blotchy and swollen to almost twice its normal size, undoubtedly broken or burned.

'Kelly? Kelly?' said Polly frantically, 'Come in. What's happening?'

'Everybody, we've got Tara.'

Their cheering could be heard over the headset.

'Don't get ahead of yourselves' advised Polly, 'You all need to get out of there now. We can't contain the fires from down here, it's too high up.'

'Don't worry, we're coming down.'

* * *

Down in the liquor cupboard the Matron was quickly packing the whiskey and sherry into boxes, cramming as many glass bottles as would fit into the confinements of the cardboard.

'Is tha' the lot of it then?' asked Taylor, heaving along two crates of vodka.

'I think so' said the Matron dutifully, 'that's all the poor babies. Leave the crappy stuff behind girls, take everything else.'

Andrea was standing by a set of shelves, her hand fishing around the top one, 'Ah! Got it.'

She pulled down what appeared to be a powdery bag of crushed white crystals.

Taylor eyes turned to slits, 'You've got to be kiddin' me Marilyn Manson.'

Andrea's look of offense was not directed at the name calling, 'What?! It's worth a lot more than what you're carryin'!'

'Whateva' snapped the chav, 'Come 'ere an help me with this lot.'

Matron stumbled past them, carrying her four boxes of whiskey and cherry. A bottle was open in one of her hands and she took a long swing out of it before turning to the bickering emo and chav.

'I've got the rest' she slurred, 'Come on girls, everybody back to the ground.'

She swaggered out, clutching the boxes to her as if they were precious newborns.

Taylor rolled her eyes, 'I'm stuck with an alcoholic and an addict. Wha' else?'

'Life isn't perfect,' sighed Andrea, dragging one of the crates away.

'Of course it isn't when you're an emo!' Taylor retorted, 'All you think about is death.'

Andrea ignored the chav and spoke instead into her headset, 'Kelly?'

Even through the static Andrea could hear the slick confidence in Kelly's voice. The girl was in a furnace for crying out loud and she was still unmoved!

'Yeah.'

'We're done here; the alcohol's been rescued.'

'Good job. We've got Tara. Time to evac this place.'

* * *

**A/N: Kinda long, but thanks to all who are reviewing and reading. The next chapter will be along soon. **


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